save our planet = become an Eco-Warrior
South Africans use between 30kg & 50kg of plastic per person per year.
80% of marine pollution originates from land-based sources. The rest of the discarded plastic ends up at landfill locations, rivers (due to wind, littering, in-proper waste management, overflowing landfills) & eventually swept out to sea.
8 tons of discarded plastic make its way into the marine ecosystem, annually.
Disposable plastics that can take several hundred years to break down & even when they do, it is through breaking down into small pieces known as micro-plastics.
Many sea creatures also swallow plastics by accident or because they mistake it for food. Seabirds eat small bits of plastic & turtles can mistake a floating plastic bag for a jellyfish,"
Not only is plastic a threat to marine animals, but also us humans, who eat them.
Retailers & hotel groups are making an effort to reduce single-use plastics.
> Shoprite announced in 2013 that plastic bags in Checkers stores were 100% recycled, diverting 2 100 tons of plastic waste from landfills.
> Woolworths announced it will phase out single-use plastic shopping bags by 2020 & plastic straws and cutlery by 2022.
> Pick n Pay launched its "Make Plastic Bags Extinct" campaign in 2008 & boasts that all packaging in its PnP Green range is fully recyclable.
> Spar Eastern Cape announced its intention to abandon plastic bags in favour of paper but concedes customer education is an important factor in driving the change.
> Intercontinental Hotel Group are working to convert from amenity bottles to dispensers worldwide, in all their 5,600 properties.
Plastics SA, in its National Plastics Recycling Survey 2017, that the industry recycled 334 727 tons – or 43.7% – of all plastics. The plastics recycling industry in SA supports 5 837 formal jobs, says the organisation.
Time to take a stand & do our bit, for the sake of our children & planet.
Become an Eco-Warrior!
